» Tuesday, 29 December A.D. 2009
suitcase parent hack
When we asked the girls what they wanted to buy with their Christmas gift money this year, they responded that they wanted little travel suitcases. Neither one of us wanted to buy a little rickety suitcas with thin vinyl siding plastered with the cartoon character du jour, though. We wanted to buy something that would last for a while and even be useful beyond these next couple of years.
We looked around online, but children's luggage is rather boutique-ish. So it looked like we'd have to go with the cheap plastic luggage or with some boutique luggage that would very nearly break the bank.
We were able to go out on a date today and were wandering around TJ Maxx when we noticed a bright orange Columbia rolling carry-on. It was a standard adult size, but it was definitely on the small side. It was also heavily discounted. We looked around a little more and found a slightly smaller red Wenger rolling carry-on as well as a blue Columbia bag of the same style as the orange one.
The Wenger bag was about half again as much as your standard plastic luggage; the Columbia bag was a little bit more than twice as much. Both were significantly cheaper than the other options we'd seen online, though. Both bags can easily accommodate a week's worth of clothes for several years. Even when the girls get older, they can fit a couple days' worth of clothes in the bags. So they win on the price and practicality fronts.
At this point, however, the girls appreciate the color most. I suppose they appreciate the size of the bags, since they can fit a lot of doll clothes in them. (We got the blue Columbia one and the red Wenger one.)
Anyway, that's the parent hack of the day: discounted adult luggage for children.
posted by Nate @ 10:03PM